Zuccagni-Orlandini, Raccolta di Dialetti Italiani, con illustrazioni etnologiche. Firenze, 1864. 8vo. The best work on the Italian dialects in general of the nautch-girls in India, have taken to imitate. with which we are acquainted, is To have discussed this question "in the Vulcan dancy" would have taken too much space in "N. & Q.," where notes sent ought always to be short and pithy, that all your correspondents may have". "in turn. a say Its first 225 pages are devoted to the dialects of "Alta Italia." QUEEN'S GARDENS. In the new edition of Bishop Percy's folio MS. Thorrow the welkin dance I ; A curious comparative view of the Italian dialects, as they existed in the sixteenth century, is afforded in Salviati's Avvertimenti della lingua sopra il Decamerone. Venezia, 1584-6. 2 vols. 4to where one of Boccaccio's stories is given "in lingua Fiorentina di mercato vecchio"; and the dialects of Bergamo (which Coryate calls "rude and grosse"), Venice, Forli, Istria, Padua, Genoa, Mantua, Milan, Bologna, Naples, and Perugia. MOLINI AND GREEN. 27, King William Street, Strand, VULCAN DANCY (4th S. i. 510.)—This expression occurs in a curiously-rhymed esdrujulian lyric of Milton's time, and your correspondent at New York asks what is "Vulcan Dancy" ? which none of the critics hitherto have attempted to explain. The ingenious remarks that follow his inquiry towards the solution of the difficult question are deserving of the study and research of antiquaries; but deep learning frequently misses the etymological proofs that simple classical conjecture may accidentally hit off from the remembrance in early education. When a boy at school, with no small amusement I read the First Book of Homer as my introduction to the higher Greek classics. The writer of that romance describes Vulcan officiating as cup-bearer at the banquet of the Gods [in English]: at the hobbling cup-bearer that he had suffered from his former audacity. My simple conjecture is that the esdrujulian allusion in the Miltonic lyric was taken from the writer's recollection of Homer's description-as graceful as a dancing bear," we say, in modern parlance. "" I take it to be a burlesque dancing, such as Vulcan exhibited from lameness in hastily bustling about at the merry banquet, and having no resemblance to the cordax whatsoever that may have been; or the lascivious cancan which balletdancers on the stage here now, after the manner "Vulcan with awkward grace his office plies, And unextinguish'd laughter shakes the skies." Pope, in the translation, has not expressed the exact meaning of dia dúμaтa Toivovтa in the original, the awkward movement from the limping gait of Vulcan 'Aupyvijeislame in both legs. How his legs were maimed by his being hurled from heaven for insulting Jove, is specially recorded by Homer, and doubtless Jove laughed the more 1, Cintra Terrace, Cambridge. In reply to the query on the subject of these words are and the following words, I answer the right "In melancholy fancy To the welkin dunce I, I have the words written down in the time of my great-grandmother. She sang the song, my INEDITED PIECES: "THE LIE" (4th S. i. 529.) MR. SKEAT tells me that my No. IV., "Tell them all they lie," has been printed before, in (besides other places), Scrymgeowe's Poetry and Poets of Great Britain, p. 78, where it is wrongly attributed to Joshua Sylvester-and in Specimens of the British Poets, Suttaby, London, 1809, vol. i. p. 34, where it is attributed to Sir Walter Raleigh, but wrongly, as MR. SKEAT believes. "The Soul's Errand" is the former title of the poem. Can any reader of "N. & Q." say who is the real author of it? F. J. FURNIVALL MR. FURNIVALL is mistaken in calling "The Lie" inedited. In one form or other it has often been printed. That it is Raleigh's cannot now be doubted. &c. ii. 224. See Collier's Bibliographical Account, The version of the poem of "The Lie" (Harl. MS., 2296, fol. 135), which MR. FURNIVALL communicates under the above heading, is printed in a note to the edition of Francis Davison's Poetical Rhapsody, published by the late Sir H. Nicolas in 1826. The copy of the poem, printed in the text of that work, is taken from the edition of 1611— "from the belief that that edition was the last which was published during the life-time of the original editor, and consequently that it received his final corrections."-Pref. In the note to vol. ii. a second copy is printed from Harl. MS., 6910, fol. 141: · "The various readings between which, and that inserted in the Rhapsody, are little more than verbal ones, and apparently arose from carelessness." Of the third copy (Harl. MS., 2296, fol. 135), Sir H. Nicolas writes: "Besides an alteration in the arrangement, two whole stanzas have been added; but from its contents, it seems to have been a wanton interpolation, and clearly did not form part of the poem as written by its author." This opinion appears borne out on a comparison of the added stanzas: the seventh, "Tell London of her stewes," and the last, "Lett Cuckouldes be remembered," with the remainder of the poem as printed in the text. At any rate, the last stanza is out of place, the foregoing stanza being evidently intended to conclude the poem. An important misreading occurs in the first lines of the tenth stanza: In the copy of the text these lines run: — Other errors might be pointed out; but it is enough to specify the work where are to be found the three versions of this poem, of which Sir H. Nicolas speaks as probably possessing more merit than any in the collection reprinted by him. A note, vol. i. p. 24, relates the history of the poem, and its disputed authorship. N. THE WHITE HORSE OF HANOVER (4th S. i. 461). Since you were kind enough to insert my query, I have been informed on good authority that the arms of the Prince of Wales are regulated by royal warrant, and that the white horse is not emblasoned upon them. I am not the less obliged to NEPHRITE for his reply. Unable to answer his question positively, I venture to offer a light. The family of Brunswick was divided in early days into the branches of Brunswick and Lüneburg. Each probably assumed a different coat of arms. In 1634, on the death of Friedrich Ulrich, Duke of Brunswick, the elder branch became extinct, and the title devolved on the eldest of the Lüneburger, August of Wolfenbuttel, who founded the family of Brunswick Wolfenbuttel. The Dukedom of Lüneburg was then transferred to a junior member of the family, Wilhelm; who, in assuming the title, added to it that of his house, Brunswick, and as his cousin called himself Brunswick Wolfenbuttel, he may have styled himself Brunswick Lüneburg (Hanover); but as Lüneburg was his original name, he may have preferred retaining the arms of that duchy in the first quartering. horse foaled in the electorate (or kingdom) beWhen Hanover was independent, every white longed to the sovereign, redeemable by a very small fine. Whether the King of Prussia retains this privilege or not, I do not know. SEBASTIAN. TAULER AND LUTHER (4th S. i. 525.)-I can give EIRIONNACH some information about the copy of Luther's second edition of the Theologia Teutsch, which was catalogued by Kerslake. It appeared in juxtaposition with a copy of the Aldine Homer of 1517, enriched with a host of Melanchthon's autograph notes, and presented by him to Luther in 1519, and with Erasmus' copy of the editio princeps of Herodotus. The price asked for the Theologia was, I think, about 201. The three books were sent to me by Kerslake on inspection. I was thoroughly satisfied with the genuineness of the autographs in the Homer and the Herodotus, which I retained, and still possess; but I felt perfectly certain, after comparing the handwriting, asserted to be Luther's, with the best facsimiles of authentic letters I could discover, that the notes were assuredly not written by him. The principal evidence in their favour was a note in a not very modern handwriting:-"N.B. Autographum Lutheri." I have no idea what has since become of this volume. I may mention that I believe genuine autographs of Luther in books to be extremely uncommon; whilst those of Melanchthon are notoriously frequent (I possess twelve volumes containing indisputable annotations of his), and that inscriptions in books of the sixteenth century to which are appended Luther's name, apparently critical eye, as they are in almost every instance as a signature, must be looked at with a very merely quotations from the great reformer's wriMelanchthon had the cacoethes scribendi, not only tings jotted down by some contemporary admirer. in his own books, but in those of all his friends, and was fond of adding his autograph signature in at least are on record in his correspondence) to the every conceivable variety of abbreviation (sixty notes which he scribbled so profusely, but Luther's pen was much less freely used. JOHN ELIOT HODGKIN. ERRORS OF LITERAL TRANSLATION (4th S. f. 543.)-HERMENTRUDE will find that prayer is not the primary sense of devotion. A reference to "A" Whence so marked and decided a contradiction in Companion to the Altar" often bound the results of observations made upon so simple a matter, with up old prayer-books will show that there is a disas the time in which fever makes its attack, could happen, we are unable to guess."-British Critic, vol. v. p. 24. tinction between the two: "By the addition of those Psalms and Proper Lessons annexed to each particular prayer and meditation the communicant may enlarge his devotions to what degree or length he pleaseth."-Preface. "Those public prayers AND devotions which we offer to God in our churches." These passages clearly show that although de votion may in a general sense include prayer as an offering of ourselves to God, it embraces in consistence with its etymology a great deal more, as for instance the alms and oblations of the prayer for the church militant. These words alms and oblations are themselves another instance of the conjunction of a restricted and more general word which would include the former. Alms are confined to money, but oblation includes an offering of anything; for instance, I once saw a clergyman, when receiving the communion immediately after his marriage, present a piece of sacramental plate. "C If I were asked by a child loyalty, I would croon to it, i. e. (See Halliwell, sub voce), Sir in the Fair Maid of Perth: "Oh, bold and true, song In bonnet blue, That fear or falsehood never knew; "" the meaning of murmur softly Walter Scott's We occasionally still hear the curious phrase: "A different guess sort of a man." WILLIAM BATES. Birmingham. 15 WEDDING-RING (4th S. i. 510.)-The thumb, I have somewhere read, was in ancient times consecrated to Venus, and hereon courtesans wore their rings. A lingering tradition of this fact. may not improbably have been the cause in later days of the transference to this member of the wedding-ring, which, at the ceremony of marriage, had been duly placed upon the fourth finger of the left hand of the bride. That it was so placed, even if removed afterwards, we may gather from the following inquiry and answer in the Notes and Queries of a century and a half ago: "Q. I desire you will in yo your next be pleas'd to resolve me in the following question: From whence the custom of our wearing the wedding-ring upon our thumb, since, when we are married, it is put upon our fourth finger? A. We take it to be nothing else but a corruption of The British Apollo, 3 vols., 12mo, 1726, p. 270. that custom of wearing the ring on the fourth finger.". Whatever the Puritans thought of the said. custom, they would probably be inclined to let it take its chance, in the consideration of the question as to the propriety of wearing a ring at all.. This, says Butler, the "Saints were desirous of getting rid of, as savouring of heathen times and creeds: 11 93 As to the use of the wedding-ring in Jewish marriages, I may refer JOSEPHUS to the History and Poetry of Finger Rings (8vo, Redfield, U.S., 1855, p. 205): the author of which interesting volume, Mr. Charles Edwards, states that he had difficulty in getting a correct account. Some particulars will also be found in A Succinct Account of the Rites and Ceremonies of the Jews, &c., by David Levi, 8vo, London (circ. 1790)-a work to which subsequent writers on the same subject have been indebted. WILLIAM BATES. Birmingham. SUNDRY QUERIES (4th S. i. 436.)3. "Him every morn the all-beholding Eye," &c.— is from Thalaba, ii. 29. S. H. M. FOREIGN OR SCOTCH PRONUNCIATION OF LATIN (4th S. i. 24, 204, 424, 512.). Whilst discussing 6 "At Rome he entertained at dinner the Pope and cardinals. Being expected to say grace he, who was not a good scholar, and had not good Latin, began rudely in the Scottish fashion, saying Benedicite,' believing that they should have answered Dominus'; but they answered Damnuse,' after the Italian fashion. This put the good bishop by his intendment, so that he wist not how to proceed, but happened out in good Scotch in this manner: To the Devil I give all you false carles, in nomine Patris, &c. &c. Amen,' quoth they; at which " the bishop and his men leugh. The prelate afterwards explained the jest to his holiness, who laughed heartily at having said Amen to Forman's uncouth anathemas." Andrews quotes Lindsay as his authority. commemorate the good fortune of the princes of the imperial family of Austria, in marrying rich heiresses. An ingenious parody upon it was prefixed to a very witty pamphlet, published in the early part of the French Revolution in the year 1791, entitled: "Discours prononcé à la Barre de l'Assemblée Nationale, contenant le projet d'un Citoyen actif, pour le rétablissement des Finances." The proposal was a new tax, put forth with amusing wit, ingenuity, and eloquence, the nature of which will be gathered from the following clever parody of the original distich on the titlepage: "Eh! J. P. DRAMATIC CURIOSITIES (3rd S. vi. 347.)-When Alex. Duval brought out his comedy, Maison à Vendre, Charles Vernet, the great punster, meeting him in the lobby the day of first performance, said to him in a serious tone: "Tu es un mauvais plaisant, tu nous a indignement trompé." comment cela, donc ?" muttered Duval, with astonishment. "Comment? parbleu," replied Vernet; "tu annonces Maison à vendre, et nous ne trouvons qu'une Piece à louer!" (to praise, as well as to let). P. A. L. QUEEN ELIZABETH'S BADGE (4th S. i. 508, 565.) — On a fine historical letter in French, wholly in Queen Elizabeth's handwriting, addressed "A mon bon frere le Roy tres chrestien," etc., which I possess, is a small seal, with silk and silver threads (to fasten the letter): a globe or sphere, in high relief, without a mottomeaning probably, with Shakespeare, that "Britain is a world by itself"; and again: "In the world's volume Our Britain seems as of it, not as in it: In a great pool a swan's nest." P. A. L. AUSTRIA (4th S. i. 533.) I do not think the writer of the distich is known, but it was made to "Bella parent alii, tu felix Gallia merdas; Nam quæ Mars aliis, dant tibi regna nates." F. C. H. CHARLES II.'S FLIGHT FROM WORCESTER (4th S. i. 549.)-I have the book referred to by CUTHBERT BEDE. I regret to say I have not so high an opinion of it as he has. It is written in that tone of moralizing and sentimentalizing, against which the feeling of this country is at last, I think, roused. We want accuracy and facts. The book does not seem to me to have been "most carefully written." The writer refers to the work "lately republished" of "the Rev. E. Hughes." This, I suppose, is the scholarly and carefully edited work of "J. Hughes, Esq. A.M.," called The Boscobel Tracts republished in 1857, which contains the pieces mentioned by the writer. (Preface, iv.) At p. 66 we are informed that "Well has the poet Wharton sung," where I suppose the great Oxford name of Thomas Warton is meant. On p. 65, the Wiltshire "Cyclopæan monuments of Averbury are mentioned, the true name being Avebury; and it appears that the writer considers Avebury and Stonehenge to be the same place. "The last act in the Miraculous Storie of his Majesty's Escape" was published uncurtailed in 1833 in An Historical and Descriptive Account of the Coast of Sussex by J. D. Parry, M.A., from the MS. then recently acquired by the British Museum. The book quoted by CUTHBERT BEDE, published in 1859, says (Preface, iv.) lately found," &c. Col. Gunter's story should be read as it stands untouched in Mr. Parry's work. No mention is made of the "Elenchus Motuum nuperorum in Angliâ.” "" I wish that I could prevail upon CUTHBERT BEDE to publish for our benefit the drawings which he has made of the places of great interest mentioned by him. A small set to bind up with the Boscobel Tracts would be invaluable. D. P. Stuarts Lodge, Malvern Wells. LANE FAMILY (4th S. i. 447, 517.) — I imagine that the suggestion of SIR T. E. WINNINGTON 66 hits the mark, and that if either of the Charleses visited Knightsford, it was the First and not the Second. Your learned correspondent D. P. suggests that I should publish a good lithograph" of my water-colour drawing of the Old House; but such publications are rarely remunerative, though I should be very willing to lend my drawing to anyone who thought well to publish it at his own expense. I would also point out to D. P. that I treated the tale of Charles the Second's visit as "( a local tradition." Some years since, Mr. Granger, bookseller of Worcester, (whose library of the Cromwellian period is most extensive, and who has made a close study of the events connected with the battle of Worcester), demonstrated to me that the "local tradition" relative to the disguised king's visit to the Lanes' house at Knightsford, was mere fiction. Mr. Granger thus corroborates D. P.'s remark, that the suggestion I quoted from Mr. Noake's book "cannot be maintained." CUTHBERT BEDE. ― MASSILLON (4th S. i. 460.) - If LORD LYTTELTON will refer to Sante-Beuve's Causeries du Lundi, tome ix. pp. 21-24, the imputation alluded to will be found related and commented on with all the light that can probably be discovered for elucidating and refuting the calumny, to which Massillon himself appears to allude in his sermon, "Sur l'Injustice du Monde envers les gens de bien," and more particularly in another sermon, "Sur la Médisance." J. MACRAY. Oxford. BIBLIOGRAPHY OF TOBACCO (3rd S. xi. 314; 4th S. i. 449.) To the list of references given by H. TIEDEMAN, the following should be added,"Der deutsche Tabacksbau und die Tabackssteuer." Two articles under this heading are contained in the numbers for April 15 and May 1 of the German periodical, Unsere Zeit. J. MACRAY. Oxford. "PLEA FOR LIBERTY OF CONSCIENCE" (4th S. i. 434.)-Will your correspondent FITZHOPKINS kindly inform me where the tract entitled A Plea for Liberty of Conscience, &c., published at Birmingham, 1868, can be obtained, as it does not appear to be known to the trade in Birmingham, where I have applied for it? EDWIN BARRETT. Handford Road, Ipswich. LETTER OF LORD NELSON (4th S. i. 432.). MR. HOLT is mistaken in calling this "an unpublished letter." It is in Sir Harris Nicolas's Dispatches and Letters of Lord Nelson, vol. v. p. 270. S. H. M. GARMANNUS: "DE MIRACULIS MORTUORUM " (4th S. i. 530.)-Southey grossly exaggerated the peculiarity of Garmann's volume in calling it " a thick, dumpy, and almost cubical small quarto." My own copy, in its original vellum binding, (6 some measures eight and a half inches by six and s half, and is three inches thick. It may seem trifling to mention such details; but if a volume is to be described as a curiosity it should be described correctly. Southey says it contains 1400 closely printed pages." There are really 1500 pages, 256 of which, to the editor's credit be it said, consist of index. K. P. D. E. is not quite correct in copying the titlepage. It begins with the author's name as "L. Christ. Frid. GarThat the volume was edited after the manni." author's death by his son, Stadtphysikus in Schneeberg, is thus stated: "Editum à L. Immanuele Heinrico Garmanno, Autor. Fil., Poliatro Sneebergensi." K. P. D. E., by the way, misunderstanding the term Stadtphysikus, calls the father "state physician" of the town of Chemnitz, and writes his name "Frederich," which is not the German spelling. The son, towards the end of the preface contributed by him to his father's book, notifies an intention to publish a treatise of his father's, bearing this very quaint title,-Pneumatopægnion, sive de halitus humani salubritate et noxu. Was this ever printed? No doubt Garmann was buried at Chemnitz, where he died. JAYDER. SOLAR ECLIPSE (4th S. i. 510.)-I have only an odd volume containing the Life of Joao de Barros, and the index to the four Decades of his Asia (Lisbon, 1778). In the latter is a reference that may possibly be useful to your correspondent, "Grand Eclipse do Sol, juizo que facem delle. E. H. A. Tomo 2, parte I. pagina 52." |